Analysts Set Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) Target Price at $22.14

Shares of Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation, two have given a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $22.1429.

SFNC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised Simmons First National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. National Bank Financial set a $21.00 target price on Simmons First National in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Simmons First National in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Simmons First National from $23.00 to $21.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, Zacks Research cut Simmons First National from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 26th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Simmons First National

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Simmons First National by 197.5% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,663 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,104 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Simmons First National by 35.6% during the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,884 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 495 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in shares of Simmons First National by 42.5% during the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,175 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 649 shares in the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of Simmons First National by 32.0% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,658 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 644 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Simmons First National during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $66,000. 27.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Simmons First National Price Performance

SFNC opened at $19.80 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. Simmons First National has a 52-week low of $17.00 and a 52-week high of $22.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.87 billion, a PE ratio of -7.15 and a beta of 0.89. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $20.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.27.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The bank reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.05. Simmons First National had a positive return on equity of 6.73% and a negative net margin of 27.83%.The firm had revenue of $249.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $238.68 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.39 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Simmons First National will post 1.66 EPS for the current year.

Simmons First National announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, February 17th that permits the company to buyback $175.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the bank to purchase up to 5.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Simmons First National Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $0.215 per share. This represents a $0.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.3%. This is a boost from Simmons First National’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. Simmons First National’s payout ratio is presently -31.05%.

Simmons First National Company Profile

Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) is a bank holding company headquartered in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Through its primary operating subsidiary, Simmons Bank, the company maintains a network of more than 200 branches across Arkansas, Tennessee, Missouri, Mississippi, Texas, Oklahoma and North Carolina. Simmons First National offers a full suite of financial services to individuals, small businesses and commercial clients, emphasizing relationship-driven community banking.

The company’s core business activities span deposit-taking, lending and payment services.